Certain manufacturing operations require the use of many similar parts that are used one at a time in relatively quick succession. For example, a quantity of rivets can be loaded into a riveting tool and then inserted into a series of rivet holes and expanded to hold two parts together. Such a riveting tool is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,535,925 which issued Aug. 20, 1985 to Ramey et al. The individual rivets, disclosed therein, are interconnected at their flanges with a fragile link, thereby forming a strip of rivets that can be handled as a unit. A strip of rivets is loaded into the tool so that a spring loaded plunger urges the strip toward the breach thereby positioning the first rivet for use. When the tool is operated, the fragile link between the first and second rivets is forcefully broken and the first rivet driven by a ram into the opening and expanded in the usual manner. The next rivet is automatically advanced into the breach and the process repeated as desired. The forceful breaking of the fragile link can sometimes damage the rivet flanges and may leave rough edges.
Another example of the use of a fragile link is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,648,178 which issued Mar. 10, 1987 to McGrath. There, a stapler device utilizes a strip of interconnected plastic staples, or clips, which are interconnected by fragile links. The clips are used to clamp a tubular member such as the neck of a balloon to seal it closed. As the stapler is operated a clip is forcefully broken away from the strip, then crimped onto the neck of a balloon. As in the use of the riveting tool, the forceful breaking of the fragile link can sometimes damage the clips and may leave rough edges.
Carrier strips are sometimes used to avoid the problems associated with fragile link structures. A carrier strip can be in the form of a tape 10 having parts 12, wire connectors in the present example, separably attached thereto, as shown in FIG. 1, or links 14 integrally formed to the parts 12, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. In the case of the tape, the wire connectors 12 are separably held to the tape 10 by means of adhesive or by a relatively thin membrane of plastic, or other material, that is fastened to the tape and looped over the wire connector thereby forming a socket that holds the wire connector on the tape. The tape 10 includes feed openings 16 that are usually engaged by a sprocket or feed dog to advance the tape in the tool. When the tool is operated, the wire connector is crimped onto the leads of a component and then pulled off of the tape without damage to the wire connector. As wire connectors are crimped and separated from the carrier tape 10, the tape is shunted to a discard chute for later disposal. In the case of the links 14, the tool includes a shearing mechanism that shears through the link adjacent each wire connector 12 immediately prior to crimping the wire connector onto the leads of the component. This operation does not damage the wire connector; however, substantial power is required to perform the shearing operation as well as a portion of the power stroke. With both of these structures, there is a residue that must be disposed of, in the form of the tape 10 or the link segments 14. This can be a serious problem when environmentally incompatible materials are used. Further examples of the use of a carrier tape to present parts to a tool are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,133,102 that issued Jan. 9, 1979 to Gillemot and 4,733,460 that issued Mar. 29, 1988 to Auger et al.
What is needed is a method and structure for presenting a plurality of parts to a tool for use in a manufacturing operation where the parts are separably attached to each other to form a chain, and wherein the attachment is a frictional attachment only and there is no residue that needs to be discarded.